Final, Bruins 2-1: That’s it, and that’s all. The Bruins tried like hell to get Jarome Iginla an empty-netter, but they couldn’t quite get him in the right spot. However, you gotta think he’ll take the win, as the Bruins hold on for the 2-1 victory.
Real impressive stuff given where they were after two periods.
Third period, 18:40, Bruins 2-1: The Calgary net is empty.
Third period, 15:27, Bruins 2-1: Improbably, the Bruins have taken the lead.
Reilly Smith just gave an incredible individual effort to get into the Calgary zone and then an even better move to create some space on the off-wing where he was able to get close and beat Reto Berra on a shot that the goalie probably should have stopped.
The Bruins will take it, no doubt.
Third period, 13:49, 1-1: The Bruins finally break through.
The B’s just had a terrific power play with plenty of offensive zone time — keeping the puck in the zone the entire power play — and it paid off. Torey Krug, who had just got back to the offensive zone after retrieving a new stick from the Boston bench, made a nice play with a low, hard shot at the net. David Krejci made a magnificent play to come in front of the net and tip it by Reto Berra to tie the game.
Third period, 12:36, Flames 1-0: The Bruins’ fourth line just did a good job of getting the puck deep, and it ended up working out pretty well.
Johnny Boychuk did a nice job of pinching down and the puck reversed back the other way, which is where Joe Colbourne put the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Rather large power play here.
Third period, 11:00, Flames 1-0: One of the linesmen was hit with a puck prior to the last TV timeout, and he actually left the ice, so it looks like this game will end with just one linesmen.
Third period, 8:28, Flames 1-0: The Bruins weren’t able to do anything on the power play, but as soon as the man-advantage ended, the Bruins turned up the heat again.
That eventually led to a fantastic shift from the first line that produced a handful of looks, but there was nothing good enough that the B’s could bury. They’re outshooting Calgary 10-1 here in the third period, which is pretty telling given the fact they had just nine shots combined through two periods.
Still, you’ve gotta bury a chance or two at some point, which is something the Bruins haven’t been able to do.
Third period, 4:03, Flames 1-0: The Bruins are going on the power play after a fantastic start to the period.
They were just able to cycle the puck with some great offensive possession, and it resulted in a Shane O’Brien holding penalty. Big power play here for the Bruins.
Third period, 1:28, Flames 1-0: The Bruins killed off the penalty, and they almost tied it when Matt Fraser came out of the penalty box.
Fraser took a loose puck on his way out and burst into the offensive zone where he was able to get a wrist shot off from the left wing, but Reto Berra made the glove save.
Third period, 0:01, Flames 1-0: The third period is now underway, and the Bruins still have to kill off another minute-plus of the too many men on the ice penalty.
End second period, Flames 1-0: The second period just came to an end, but it wasn’t after a quick siege from the Flames on the power play. Luckily for the Bruins, Tuukka Rask was able to keep the puck out of the net, and the period comes to an end.
The Bruins will have to kill off 1:17 remaining on the bench minor when the third period begins.
Second period, 19:17, Flames 1-0: The Bruins will have to kill off a penalty now.
They were just caught with too many men on the ice, and the PK will have to kill off another one. Matt Fraser will serve the minor.
Second period, 18:00, Flames 1-0: The Bruins look like a banged-up team battling the flu right now. There hasn’t been much fight or fire, but we did see things get chippy for the first time all night.
Zdeno Chara, who missed practice Monday because he was sick, was the one to get things started as he and Kevan Miller were taking numbers in a scrum after the whistle in front of Tuukka Rask.
Second period, 13:43, Flames 1-0: The Bruins are starting to look real sloppy when moving the puck in all three zones. That’s been especially prevalent in attempts to enter the attacking zone, as everything just looks out of sync at the moment.
The Flames almost took the 2-0 lead, too, but Mike Cammalleri’s wrist shot hit the post, and it remains a one-goal game.
Second period, 10:00, Flames 1-0: Tuukka Rask’s inability to make a glove save is the reason the Bruins are down 1-0. His latest kick save is the reason they’re not down 2-0 now.
Rask just made a gorgeous kick save on Mike Cammalleri when the Flames forward jumped on a loose puck in the right slot. Rask was able to extend the pad just time and kick it away.
Second period, 5:17, Flames 1-0:Â The Bruins have gotten the better of the chances in the middle period, but they’re now trailing 1-0.
Reilly Smith had the puck stolen as he entered the Calgary zone, and Jiri Hudler was off to the races. Dennis Seidenberg matched Hudler stride for stride, and the Flames forward only had one play, which was to shoot. He shoot and beat Tuukka Rask glove side for the games’ first goal.
Second period, 4:00, 0-0: David Krejci came within inches of giving the Bruins a lead.
Krejci was camped on the doorstep when Johnny Boychuk put a shot on net that Reto Berra made the initial save on. The rebound went right to Krejci in front, but he missed the net while whirling and shooting.
Second period, 1:25, 0-0: The Bruins just got the best chance of the young period.
Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith worked a give-and-go with Marchand getting a backhanded chance in front, but he hit the side of the post with the shot.
Second period, 0:01, 0-0: The second period is underway with teams looking to get the first goal.
End first period, 0-0: The first period wasn’t necessarily sleepy, but it wasn’t exactly exciting, either. Except for the last couple of minutes.
Jarome Iginla turned in a monster shift and that ended up with a big slap shot from the right slot in the final few seconds, but his shot was stopped Reto Berra’s right pad and turned aside. That puck looked to be headed for just inside the post, too.
First period, 17:00, 0-0: The Bruins were able to kill off the penalty, but it wasn’t easy. The Flames got four shots on goal, but Tuukka Rask turned aside all four and the game is back to even strength.
First period, 14:39, 0-0: Calgary, owner of the 24th-ranked power play, will get its first man-advantage late in the first. Matt Bartkowski was just called for holding, and the Bruins will look to kill it off. As we discussed earlier, the B’s are without three of their top penalty killers, so we’ll see who gets a bump in PK time. It would make sense that players like David Krejci, Jordan Caron and Nick Johnson may get some run here.
The Bruins had been starting to put the pressure on. The third line of Carl Soderberg, Ryan Spooner and Matt Fraser had the best chance of the last few minutes or so when Soderberg tried to find Fraser for a one-time chance on a breakaway, but Spooner couldn’t settle the puck.
First period, 9:59, 0-0: Jarome Iginla, who found the back of the net Sunday in Toronto, has been much better as of late. He just got his first scoring chance of the night.
Iginla was in the right place at the right time in front of the net when he found a loose puck, but he might have been a little too close to the net to get any sort of shooting angle and his bid was stopped.
First period, 7:00, 0-0: The Bruins’ power play just came to an end, with no shots on goal from the B’s.
Calgary came in with the 17th-ranked penalty kill, but they have been better as of late, and that was proof of it. The Bruins weren’t able to get much of anything going, and we’ll have to see if that ends up giving Calgary some momentum moving forward.
First period, 4:42, 0-0: The Bruins will get the first power play of the game.
Blair Jones was just called for holding, and Boston will get the first man-advantage of the game.
This is coming a couple of minutes before Tuukka Rask made a big point-blank save on Jiri Hudler right in front.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is underway.
9:43 p.m.: The Jarome Iginla tribute video just ended in Calgary where Jarome Iginla is getting a massive standing ovation right now for all of his years spent in Calgary.
It’s quite the scene.
9:35 p.m.: Johnny Boychuk is back, and he will start for the Bruins.
9:20 p.m.: It won’t be long before the pregame ceremony honoring Jarome Iginla in Calgary begins. If I’m not mistaken, it will be aired on NESN, so you can tune in to that, which should be beginning soon.
The goaltending matchup will be Tuukka Rask versus Reto Berra. The Bruins lines are listed below. But if you’re too lazy to scroll down, here they are again.
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Reilly Smith
Carl Soderberg — Ryan Spooner — Matt Fraser
Jordan Caron — Gregory Campbell — Nick Johnson
8:20 p.m.: We’re still about an hour away from hockey in Calgary, so let’s take a look at the Bruins’ penalty-killing situation, shall we?
Obviously, the injuries hurt in terms of trying to fill ice time, and filling special teams time is no exception obviously. The absence of players like Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille will be felt on the PK perhaps more than any other area.
Chris Kelly, who is going to be out until the new year at the very least, is the big absence. Kelly is currently averaging 1:57 of penalty kill time per game, which is tops among Bruins forwards. Daniel Paille, who will miss Tuesday’s game, is another one of the club’s top penalty killers. Paille’s speed is a huge asset, which is why he’s getting 1:33 of PK time per game, which ranks him third among forwards. Loui Eriksson is also out, and he’s another valuable PK asset averaging more than a minute of shorthanded time per contest.
So what do the Bruins do? Well, we saw a little bit of what the future may hold Sunday night in Toronto. David Krejci got plenty of penalty kill time (3:52) against the Maple Leafs, and so did Jordan Caron (2:24). They will have to continue to log big shorthanded minutes in the absence of the aforementioned trio. You can probably expect to see Nick Johnson, who was recalled from Providence earlier, to also log some shorthanded minutes.
It will help that Boston is expected to get Johnny Boychuk back as he’s second to only Zdeno Chara among the Bruins in shorthanded time.
3:50 p.m.: The Bruins just can’t buy a break when it comes to the injury game.
The B’s knew they would be without Dougie Hamilton for at least a week after he was injured Sunday night in Toronto. It turns out they will be without Hamilton for 2-4 weeks, Claude Julien said Wednesday in Calgary. That obviously just adds to defensive woes on the blue line with Adam McQuaid still out with a groin injury. The silver lining for the Boston defense, though, is that Johnny Boychuk is expected to return against Calgary.
It’s all bad news up front for the Bruins, and there’s another injury to add to the list. Daniel Paille has apparently suffered an upper-body injury that will cause him to miss at least one game. That’s all the information that the Bruins have given so far, though. With Paille on the shelf for at least one game, the Bruins have recalled Nick Johnson from Providence.
In case you have forgotten, the Bruins have a bunch of injuries to forwards, not to mention a pending suspension. So the Bruins are without Paille, Hamilton, McQuaid, Shawn Thornton, Loui Eriksson and Chris Kelly on Tuesday. Here are the projected lines for that game, according to morning skate.
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Reilly Smith
Carl Soderberg — Ryan Spooner — Matt Fraser
Jordan Caron — Gregory Campbell — Nick Johnson
8 a.m.: There wasn’t a lot to look forward to Calgary Flames prior to this season, but there’s no doubt they circled Dec. 10 on the calendar when the NHL schedule was released.
That date, Tuesday, marked the return of arguably the most popular player in franchise history, Jarome Iginla. The future Hall of Famer will make his return to his former home on Tuesday night, and he’ll do so as a member of the Bruins. The B’s will open a three-game swing through Western Canada at the Saddledome in what’s expected to be an emotional scene.
Iginla played 15-plus seasons with the Flames before agreeing to be traded to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline last season. Hoping for a chance at the Stanley Cup, Iginla chose Pittsburgh over Boston at the deadline only to have the Penguins bounced by the Bruins in the playoffs. This summer, Iginla signed with the Bruins, sealing the fact that he would make his return as a member of the B’s.
“Right now, I’m not nervous,” Iginla told the Calgary Sun over the weekend. “But I’m also not trying to think about it too much. I know I will be very excited about it, but I don’t want to get too excited to sleep because I want to play well.”
It is expected that the Flames will do some sort of ceremony to welcome Iginla back to Calgary.
Iginla has been playing well as of late and finally broke through with his first goal in two weeks on Sunday night in Toronto. That goal was a big one in what ended up being a 5-2 win for the Bruins over the Maple Leafs. With the win, Boston won both halves of a back-to-back with Toronto and Pittsburgh and is now 7-2-1 in its last 10 games. The win in Toronto marked the first game of a four-game road trip that will now head out to Western Canada with stops in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
The Bruins are still very banged up, though. They’re still without Loui Eriksson (concussion), Chris Kelly (fractured fibula) and Adam McQuaid (groin). Additionally, Dougie Hamilton was injured Sunday night in Toronto and is expected to miss at least a week. The Bruins are also without Shawn Thornton who was suspended indefinitely for his role in Saturday’s game against the Penguins.
The lone bit of good news, however, may be that Johnny Boychuk could return Tuesday night. He left early Thursday night after being hit from behind by Montreal’s Max Pacioretty in a scary situation that luckily only left Boychuk with a lower-back injury. Boston coach Claude Julien said Saturday night that he thinks Boychuk could return Tuesday. The head coach reiterated that point Monday.
Puck drop from Calgary is slated for 9:30 p.m. ET.
